![]() ![]() It stuck to my fingers, to my grinder, and probably would have stuck to the wall had I tried. I decided to load a bowl then and there since I was already palming the weed anyway, but it took a minute, because this strain is incredibly sticky. IT REEKS OF WEED IN HERE.” No kidding…? You guys do know what my job is, right? One of my housemates walked in the kitchen right after I’d poured this stuff out and felt it necessary to exclaim, “OH MY GOD. ![]() And that voluminous stench was noticeable to other people, too. You could almost see the Pigpen stink lines emanating from the chunky nuggets. Unleashing the nugs from their plastic container prison only upped the fragrant ante. I poured them into my hand for some super scientific examination, and found they were fat, dense, and covered in orange hair. I wanted to see what this weed was that was causing a fumigated fuss in my car, so I popped open the lid to take a gander, and it was clear before I even dumped them out that these nugs were beautiful. First thing to note: This stuff is super pungent. It smelled like a mixture of sweet cheesecake, vanilla cookies, and weed. By the time I pulled in the driveway, my car absolutely reeked. So, I picked up some Ice Cream Cake #5 from Rocky Mountain High on a Friday night and tossed it in the passenger seat for my four-minute drive home. File that under “things that have never happened before,” please. This past weekend I smoked some weed and felt like I was a slightly crunchy spaghetti noodle. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Jul 7 This Week in Games - Back, By Popular Demand.Jun 30 Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE.Jul 2 Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out.Jul 6 Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King.Jul 7 Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire Episode 1-12.Jul 8 Sacrificial Princess & the King of Beasts Episodes 1-12.Jul 9 In Another World With My Smartphone Season 2.Jun 21 Centaurs Manga Creator Ryo Sumiyoshi on Fantasy in Feudal Japan.Jun 26 After the Rain and Kowloon Generic Romance Manga Artist Jun Mayuzuki.Jun 26 The Best and Worst Anime of Spring 2023.Jun 27 Your Anime Rankings - Best of Spring 2023, Jun 17-23.Jun 28 The Most Anticipated Anime of Summer 2023.Jul 1 The Summer 2023 Anime Preview Guide.Jul 4 Your Anime Rankings - Best of Spring 2023.Jul 7 100 Million Magic and Pokémon Cards Sorted.Jul 7 Blade & Soul Revolution Adds Reinforce Content, Mission Expansions, Events, and More in New Skills Potential Update.Jul 7 Anime Impulse Bay Area 2023 Goes North This Summer.Jul 8 The Final Animated Trailer for Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Sets the Stage for a Harrowing Conclusion.Jul 8 The 25th Anniversary Celebration Continues This July in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.Announces Partnership with Media Do & Ake Culture, More Titles from MediBang and Square Enix in July 2023 Jun 21 Jujutsu Kaisen's Satoru Gojo & Suguru Geto Are Ready for a Day at the Beach in New Okinawa Collaboration Merch.Jun 25 BEASTARS Manga, Italian Band Måneskin Get Collaboration Music Video.Jun 25 Voting Opens for Next Manga Awards 2023.Jun 26 Lycoris Recoil and Pizza Hut Collaboration Puts Chisato and Takina in Polka Dot Skirts.Jun 26 Pokémon Summer Festival Coming in August.Jun 27 My Hero Academia and NBA Fashion Collaboration Announced.Jul 1 Spy x Family Gets Collaboration Project with Street Fighter 6 Game.Apr 10 Anime Boston 2023: What It's Like to Work in Anime (UPDATED).Convention reports chronological archives.Jul 9 Pluto TV Launches Godzilla Linear Streaming Channel.Jul 9 Unison Square Garden Performs Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective Anime's Opening Song.Jul 9 Manga UP! Adds Yuzo Natsuno's Assassin & Cinderella Manga in English.Jul 9 Katsuhisa Minami's The Fable Manga Gets TV Anime.Jul 9 Mysterious Disappearances TV Anime Unveils Main Leads Fairouz Ai & Daiki Yamashita, 2024 Debut.Jul 9 The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You Anime Posts Hakari's Character Video.02:10 Rascal Does Not Dream Light Novel Series to Enter Final Arc.03:15 Issui Ogawa's Twin Star Cyclone Runaway Yuri Sci-fi Novels Get Manga.04:15 Toho International to Launch 2 e-Commerce Platforms in N.05:15 Bocchi the Rock! Spinoff Manga Launches, Focuses on Kikuri Hiroi. ![]() ![]() ![]() This was a man I could imagine bouncing from meeting to meeting, hungry for stimulation. ![]() During that discussion, however, I couldn't help but notice him toying with his phone, checking the time, tapping at something or other. Once more, Wester has often been deferential, though he's spoken at length during the event's opening and also at a round table discussion where no topic was out of bounds. Again, the company is presenting a diverse portfolio to journalists, from the sequel to Magicka through to the grand strategy of Hearts of Iron 4 and the soon-to-be-megasuccess of Cities: Skylines. Jorjani is answering questions about his boss two years later, in the chilly, converted hotel-prison that Paradox has occupied for its 2015 conference. Then, he'll walk about the Paradox office, spot a meeting, say 'That's an interesting meeting, what's that about?' and jump right in. He sits down, he does a tonne of emails, but all his emails are very short. "He starts his day by putting on headphones and listening to opera. ![]() "A normal day with Fred?" says Jorjani, chewing over the question. Yet this was not the Wester I would keep meeting. ![]() Wasn't it refreshing that he sidestepped the PR machine to give a little dig at his rivals, or wasn't it amusing that he accidentally let a game announcement slip early? The impression one particular, smirking journalist gave was of an impulsive eccentric, slightly off-balance in his world, perhaps surprised at his own success and always on the verge of the next misstep. What I'd known of Wester at that point came mostly through other games journalists and from occasional very frank tweets that had become infamous. Wester was louder at the informal gatherings, singing or even playing air guitar, often the last person to talk business. But, while so many of the decisions that had brought them that momentum came from Wester, it was often colleagues like Susana Meza Graham, Paradox's COO, or Shams Jorjani, the company's VP of acquisition, who did much of the talking. Both Magicka and Crusader Kings 2 had been huge recent successes and, despite the disastrous failures of concurrent games like Gettysburg and Sword of the Stars 2, the Swedish publisher had tremendous momentum. That year was not a date chosen arbitrarily, but the year that Wester had founded the digital distribution platform Gamersgate and begun the tremendous shift that would see Paradox eventually earn 98-99 per cent of its sales online (Gamersgate is now an entirely independent company, but still carried the Paradox catalogue up until very recently). It was not what you might expect from the man at the helm of a company who, Forbes had just said, were enjoying 1000 per cent growth in gross revenue since 2006. He didn't speak for anyone, didn't seem to have any need to assert himself and, as I realise in retrospect, seemed to spend a great deal of his time just listening. While the development teams present showed off a diverse roster of games like Cities in Motion 2, Leviathan: Warships and Impire, Paradox's commander-in-chief was content to let them advocate for their own work. At Paradox Interactive's 2013 conference, held in a somnambulist Iceland in the middle of winter, Wester did relatively little speaking. The Paradox Initiative takes the familiar board game elements of card drafting, set collection, and resource management, then adds a Bejewelled-like grid of discs for each player to manipulate.I missed out on Fredrik Wester the first time we crossed paths. Who can most efficiently operate their particle-matching "Paradox Engine" to collect data from the different worlds? Be careful! Your collecting sends ripples throughout existence, collapsing the connections that future generations will need to reap the benefits of your reckless experiments. In The Paradox Initiative, players are mad scientists competing to claim strands of spacetime from worlds all across the multiverse. Ĭarts submitted with multiple pre-orders, or with pre-orders and in stock items together, will be cancelled and refunded. By finalizing your purchase of this item, you indicate that you:ī) agree to be bound to all terms of boardgames.ca's Pre-Order Policy. ![]() ![]() Preserve visual quality: The effect of compression or dithering is nearly invisible on high-resolution devices or moving objects. ![]() Increase framerate: Make your game start faster: For maximum performance directly export to your target systems image formats like for example PVR. Save memory: Compress your sprite sheet and drastically reduce memory usage. Performance: The decryption uses nearly no time at all since only parts of the. Memory consumption: The runtime requires 4kB while decrypting the spritesheets. This will activate the lastest version of following softs.Įase of use: Enter the encryption key in TexturePacker and copy 2 files into your Cocos2D folder, add 4 lines of code - thats all. Texture Packer for Unity Full Version Free Version Documentation What is this This is package will help you to use Atlases made in Texture. TexturePacker 4.4.0 Crack Serial WarezOmen CrackĬrack Keygen Crack Serial WarezOmen Crack Serial Crack Serial Key Crack Serial Key Download Fortune DDLPal Downloads DDLSpot. TexturePacker pro Crack, TexturePacker pro Keygen, TexturePacker pro Serial, TexturePacker pro No Cd, TexturePacker pro Free Full Version Direct Download And More. Use more animations and sprites: Make your animation run smoother. Sort sprites to multiple texture atlases: Have different sprite sheets for different categories, e.g.īackground, characters, impact objects and so on. ![]() Preserve the folder structure as part of the sprite names: TexturePacker uses sub-folder names as part of the final sprite name.ĭistribute sprites across multiple sheets: TexturePacker creates multiple image and data files if not all sprites could be packed into a single texture. Group animations and associated sprites: Flash animations appear as folders. Organize your sprites: Sort your sprites in folders, TexturePacker inherits your folder structure. ![]() TexturePacker 4.4.0 Crack Serial WarezOmen Crack.TexturePacker 4.4.0 Software And TexturePacker. ![]() ![]() I found this setup works perfectly with HAProxy (Split DNS (DNS Overrides) Tutorial 2022/08: HAProxy + Let's Encrypt Wildcard Certificates + 100% A+ Rating) and other weird setups like “ Bypassing a CGNAT with Wireguard” ( GitHub - mochman/Bypass_CGNAT: Wireguard setup to bypass CGNAT with a VPS) If you have multiple VLANs or LANs then duplicate the rule and change it to the relevant Interface and address. If you want to force you OPNsense clients to use AdGuard you need to do following:Īdd a new Firewall rule to forward all DNS (Port 53) traffic to AdGuard:įirewall → NAT → Port Forward Interface: LANĭestination port range: From: DNS - To: DNS If you want to check on what IP’s AdGuard listens you can go to # guide (“ Setup Guide” on top of AdGuard WebUI). Click Test (it should show you green notification “ Specified DNS servers are working correctly”, then click Apply. You should see green “Play” indicator on top of this page after refresh.ģ.1 Now you need to configure AdGuard, navigate to opnsense_ip:3000ģ.2 I set Admin interface to my main LAN (192.168.1.1) as the only listen interface and via port 81 (OPNsense uses port 80 and 443 so select something other than this for AdGuard listen port and if you configure AdGuard’s SSL settings)ģ.3 DNS Server listen interface select ‘ All’ on Port 53.ģ.4 Now go to Settings> DNS and set “ Upstream DNS servers”, “ Bootstrap DNS servers” and “ Private reverse DNS servers” to “ 0.0.0.0:53350”. Now you can login back to OPNsense and continue.ģ.0 Go to: Services: Adguardhome: General and tick “ Enable”, then click Save. More public DNS providers you can find here: Known DNS Providers | AdGuard DNS Knowledge BaseĢ.6 If you use “ Dnsmasq” you need to change port to other than 53 (In my setup it’s “ 5335”)Ģ.7 Reboot your OPNsense so it will bind Dnsmasq and Unbound to different ports (not necessary, but i had bug where 53 was still “already in use”). Server IP: X.X.X.X (your primary dns ip from NextDNS) Add following (for Cloudflare): Server IP: 1.0.0.1Īdd following (for NextDNS) Server IP: X.X.X.X (your primary dns ip from NextDNS) ![]() Add following (for Cloudflare): Server IP: 1.1.1.1 Outgoing Network Interfaces: WAN (Your WAN interface or interface group)Ģ.4 Go to: Services: Unbound DNS: DNS over TLSĢ.5 A. Hi! Some people ask on Discord if they can run OPNsense with AdGuard Home, so my answer is YES! In fact, it can be run in OPNsense natively!įirstly install the Community repo from: OPNsense Repo – Routerperformanceīe prepared to lose connection with WAN if you start below setup!ġ.2 Under “ Networking” and “ DNS” setup your favorite External DNS IPs (it will be used by OPNsense if you break something! I’m using Cloudflare and Quad9 here so 1.1.1.1 and 9.9.9.9)ġ.3 Untick “ Do not use the local DNS service as a nameserver for this system”Ĭlient > AdGuard Home > Unbound > External DNS (Cloudflare, Quad9, NextDNS etc.) SetupĢ.1 Go to: Services: Unbound DNS: GeneralĢ.2 Change unbound port to other than 53 (In my setup its “ 53350”)Ģ.3 Tick “ Enable DNSSEC Support”, “ Register DHCP leases”, “ Register DHCP static mappings”, “ Register IPv6 link-local addresses”. ![]() ![]() “The key here is working with providers who are committed to making the finding, booking, paying experience as good as possible,” Enever said. And before launching Quipcare, Quip already had 40,000 providers on its Dental Connect platform. Thanks to the Afora acquisition, Quip already has hundreds of providers on board for Quipcare. Quipcare is rolling out this summer in New York and plans to roll out more broadly next year. One Medical is by no means cheaper than having regular insurance, but the convenience they offer via app-based, same-day appointments and a plethora of locations can’t be beaten. Quipcare+ is similar to One Medical in that what you’re mostly paying for is convenience. What you’re essentially paying extra for are transparent pricing and the booking platform. ![]() But even if I didn’t go through my insurer, Covered California says I could get a comparable plan with covered preventive check-ups for $16.06 per month. In San Francisco, I pay about $7 per month for dental insurance via my employer. This plan is more geared toward people without dental insurance, though, Quipcare+ isn’t necessarily cheaper. Quipcare+ includes two preventative check-ups annually, as well as x-rays. Quipcare+, on the other hand, is a preventative care plan that costs $25 per month. Enever said Quipcare can be an option for people without insurance or those with insurance who have already hit their annual maximum. Quip says Quipcare patients can expect prices of 30-40% less than the average dental care in their area. There are two services as part of this launch: Quipcare and Quipcare+.īasic Quipcare uses a pay-as-you-go model that enables you to find in-Quip network dentists, see pre-negotiated rates for non-preventative care upfront, pay for the care, accrue reward points and view dental records. “We believe that seamlessness is something we can bring to dentistry.”Īdditionally, the plan is to make prices more transparent so that people know exactly what they’ll pay before the treatment. ![]() “People are used to being able to pick up their phone to book, pay for and track every aspect of their daily life,” Enever said. ![]() With Quipcare, the goal is to modernize the dental care experience, Quip CEO Simon Enever told TechCrunch. Called Quipcare, the service operates on the back of Afora, a dental insurance alternative startup Quip acquired last May. Quip, maker of electric toothbrushes, is making use of its most recent acquisition to launch a dental insurance alternative to customers in New York City this summer. ![]() ![]() “I found the three-sided polygon provided superior stability.” ![]() “Why does a modular system have to be circular?” Andersson asked. The Coromant Capto’s three-corner polygon shape distinguishes it from other toolholders. We drove this certification to make sure no one could change the design, and that’s what ISO certification achieves.” “We wanted to ensure that if anyone makes it, and anyone is more than welcome to make it, all the tolerances are exactly the same as the original. “When the patent ran out, we didn’t want people to make a lower-quality version so that it started to create problems for those who had Coromant Capto,” said Chris Mills, national portfolio manager for Sandvik Coromant, Fair Lawn, N.J. Sandvik Coromant’s Coromant Capto machine adapted clamping units (MACU) for lathes are suitable for turning and milling applications. ISO certification means no manufacturer can sell a Coromant Capto holder that doesn’t conform to the standard’s specifications. Since then, Coromant Capto has made industry inroads via sales by Sandvik Coromant and its various licensees and was adopted in 2008 as an ISO standard (26623) for toolholding systems when the company’s patent expired and the need to license it ceased. ![]() Sandvik Coromant completed the first prototype in 1989 and unveiled the full version at IMTS 1990 in Chicago. Ken Andersson, who has since retired from the toolmaker and now builds boats, invented Coromant Capto. For the Coromant Capto toolholding system developed by Sandvik Coromant Co., modularity, universality and repeatability define it. ![]() Those are definitions of the Latin word capto. A look at the Coromant Capto modular toolholding system. ![]() ![]() ![]() Unlike with other transplants, this second evolution will allow the user to retain their original techniques. Their vision can be restored by transplanting the eyes of an Uchiha with strong blood ties - ideally a sibling - thus awakening the so-called Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan ( 永遠の万華鏡写輪眼, Eien no Mangekyō Sharingan). Even more, it can cause considerable damage to their being, leaving the body in agonising pain and causing deterioration to their vision until eventually over-usage leaves them blind. It drains a considerable amount of chakra when simply activating and maintaining the advanced dōjutsu, and even more through each technique used. Even for true wielders, usage of the Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities can cause a great strain on the user. Using them comes with a certain sensation that sensors can feel, although it doesn't show which technique is being prepared. Abilities of a Mangekyō Sharingan can also be programmed to activate under certain circumstances, either within the user's own eyes or in a target of the user's choosing this programming remains even after death. Unlike the standard Sharingan, a transplanted Mangekyō Sharingan can be freely activated or deactivated by non-Uchiha at will. Madara was able to sense this form and later deduced that he and Sasuke must be connected by more than blood.Īs with any dōjutsu, Mangekyō Sharingan can be transplanted into non-Uchiha, granting them all its abilities albeit with steeper chakra demands. In addition to the unique techniques, the straight tomoe ( 直巴, choku tomoe) of Madara's and Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan grants them greater fluidity in their movements when fighting. Once a user awakens the Mangekyō in both eyes, they are able to perform Susanoo, even without either eye. Likewise, each eye may not even be limited to just one ability, as at least Itachi's right eye has Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi.Īs each eye houses the particular dōjutsu techniques, one can only access them if they currently house the said eye, even if they were the originator of the said technique. The abilities of a Mangekyō Sharingan may not be the same for both of a single user's eyes, as Sasuke's left eye can unleash Amaterasu while the right eye can manipulate his flames with Kagutsuchi. In addition to that, the Mangekyō grants powerful abilities that differ between each eye, though abilities may be similar in nature both Sasuke and Itachi have access to Amaterasu's flames, though the extent to which they can use them differ. The Mangekyō Sharingan retains all of the Sharingan's generic abilities. ![]() Obito's Mangekyō activated immediately after his trauma, whereas, in Naruto Jinraiden, Sasuke's Mangekyō didn't activate until several weeks afterwards. Uchiha have historically misunderstood this criteria as the user needing to be responsible for the person's death, and for that reason they developed the practice of killing their closest friends in order to gain the Mangekyō Sharingan. It is initially awakened by the trauma suffered from witnessing the loss of someone dear, usually their death. While the exact design differs for each user, they all resemble pinwheels. Izuna and Madara after awakening their Mangekyō Sharingan.Ī Mangekyō Sharingan is distinguished from a normal Sharingan by its appearance, which changes the form of the tomoe seal. They are noted to be the "heavenly eyes that see the truth of all of creation without obstruction" ( 天壌の理を掌握せし瞳, tenjō no kotowari o shōakuseshi hitomi). The Mangekyō Sharingan ( 万華鏡写輪眼, literally meaning: Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye) is an advanced form of the Sharingan that has only been activated by a handful of Uchiha when enduring a traumatic enough experience. Susanoo: Great Fireball Technique (Anime only).Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero.Hurricane Thunderclap - Majestic Attire Sword Stroke.Blaze Release: Honoikazuchi (Anime only).Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Will of Fire Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled ![]() For the game-only jutsu, see Mangekyō Sharingan. Save this file and use it at any convenient time, regardless of whether you have an Internet connection.This article is about the dōjutsu. I want to remind you that now you can download a short version of the lesson as a PDF file for free. With smooth curved lines draw the clouds on the Itachi’s cloak.įor coloring, you will need beige, dark gray and dark red. The upper contour of the hair has a rounded shape, and draw pointed strands at the bottom.ĭraw wide sleeves and try to correctly depict the position of the hands. Sketch out the large eyes, small nose and mouth. Depict an even circle, add the lower part and mark up the elements of the face.ĭraw horizontal lines to outline the bandage and add the emblem. ![]() ![]() ![]() Of course, these mulligans shouldn’t be followed to the book so decide depending on the circumstances. You need a combo activator for Vilespine Slayer against Mountain Giant which is insanely important, and also it gives that additional card against control match-ups that CAN win you the game. Hallucination – After playing so many games, I’ve come to the conclusion that this card is ridiculously strong against slow decks.Cavern Shinyfinder – Since the early game is slow, getting your Spectral Cutlass is essential in these match-ups and the earlier you get it, the better. ![]() You don’t really get punished when all control decks do is preparation in the early game. Fal'dorei Strider – Since you’ve got a lot of time to work with, setting up your spiders early on should be your primary goal.Fan of Knives – It’s just a great card in general which can give that game-changing card in some matchups such as Consecration, or Lightning Storm.SI:7 Agent – If you’re on the coin or can trigger this on the third or fourth turn, it’s a great way to control the aggro, but it’s otherwise a 3 mana 3/3 which can trade.Cavern Shinyfinder – Can be played on curve and search for Spectral Cutlass which will increase survivability.Backstab – 2 damage for 0 mana is a very important tempo swing and/or combo activator in the early game when you’re fighting for the board against an aggressive opponent.It can clear many pesky boards in this new meta, like Deathrattle Rouge, Token Druid, Even Shaman, etc. Without any fuel to keep the durability of Spectral Cutlass up, what’s the point of having a high attack lifesteal weapon? And I also replaced Cavern Shinyfinder with Vanish because it’s an extremely powerful card. I switched to Fan of Knives because it’s an amazing card that can deal with a wide board early game, and draw cards which is what this deck wants. Switched 1x Cavern Shinyfinde for Vanish.Switched 2x Toxicologist for 2x Fan of Knives.That’s why I made modifications to this deck. It’s a good card, but I can win games without it. It allowed for early trades and buffs Spectral Cutlass up, but that’s all. Update* After testing this deck 4 days into the Boomsday expansion, I decided that Toxicologist wasn’t good enough at rank 8 and above. However, that doesn’t mean you’ve lost the match! Use all your skills and win that game and show them who’s boss! ヘ(*゚ー゚)┌θ)゚ロ゚)ノ You’re Spectral Cutlass won’t be buffed by any cards you play from your thief cards and it also won’t activate Tess Greymane. However, with previous experiences from other expansions, you will definitely be at a disadvantage. Out of the many matches from the release of the Boomsday Project expansion, I have not yet vs against another Rogue on ladder since everybody was testing out new decks. There are apparent weaknesses though which is vsing against another Rogue player. This is why Hallucination and Blink Fox, and the important Academic Espionage are in the deck so you can throw more value at your opponents face. Well look no further as Tess Graymane will surely keep you entertained and help you out in those sticky or more importantly, boring situations. ┻━┻ ︵ \(‘0’)// ︵ ┻━┻Īnd also did I mention you can win with crazy means instead of playing just a fatigue game. With a possible 5 or even 9 attack weapon with lifesteal, it would be extremely difficult for your opponent to kill you, and with the possibility of other weapon enhancements from other classes … prepare for trouble and make it double. You wanna know why? Because you can shuffle 20, 40 or even 80 cards so you don’t even need to worry about dying from fatigue! What about your health you say? Well, my friend, that is what Spectral Cutlass is for. This is a hyper value deck that will never fatigue even if a Warrior uses 2 Dead Man's Hand, shuffling 9 cards into their deck. You can survive the early game if you have basic game knowledge.Īnyways, back onto the topic at hand. Now I know Fire Fly can be used for turn 1 early trades, or combo with Vilespine Slayer, but that’s all. And my answer to that is yea, it is, but this deck doesn’t need it. Now you’re wondering, why no Fire Fly? It’s such a great card. This is a greedy value deck, nothing more, nothing less. Unlike regular Thief Rogue which features a tempo play style with Hench-Clan Thug or Fire Fly, this deck plays more with Spectral Cutlass and the new addition to this archetype, Academic Espionage. After testing this deck for a while, I’ve climbed from rank 14 to rank 10 without losing once. ![]() ![]() ![]() The first car to come along belonged to a neighbor, a fellow-Yankee who had outfitted his tires with chains and stopped a few feet from our sister’s body. She took her place, this six-year-old in a butter-colored coat, and we gathered on the curb to watch. We chose a quiet dip between two hills, a spot where drivers were almost required to skid out of control. When we asked her to lie in the middle of the street, her only question was “Where?” Her eagerness to please was absolute and naked. All you had to do was call her Tiff, and whatever you wanted was yours: her allowance, her dinner, the contents of her Easter basket. She’d do just about anything in return for a little affection. He’d gone to work specifically to escape our mother, and between the weather and her mood it could be hours, or even days, before he returned home. My sister Gretchen suggested that we call our father, but none of us knew his number, and he probably wouldn’t have done anything anyway. Selfish mothers wanted the house to themselves and their children were discovered years later, frozen like mastodons in blocks of ice. Dusk approached, and as it grew colder it occurred to us that we could possibly die. “You are going to be in so much trouble when Dad gets home!” we shouted, and in response my mother pulled the drapes. We pounded again and again, and when our mother failed to answer we went around back and threw snowballs at her bedroom window. It’s us.” We knocked on the pane and, without looking in our direction, she refilled her goblet and left the room. Drinking didn’t count if you followed a glass of wine with a cup of coffee, and so she had a goblet and a mug positioned before her on the countertop. Normally she waited until five o’clock to have a drink, but for the past few days she’d been making an exception. I rang the bell, and when no one answered we went to the window and saw our mother in the kitchen, watching television. A few hours later, we returned home, surprised to find that the door was locked. My sisters and I went down the hill and sledded with other children from the neighborhood. We reminded her that it was our house, too, and she opened the front door and shoved us into the carport. “Get the hell out of my house,” she said. It wasn’t a gentle request but something closer to an eviction. Our presence had disrupted the secret life she led while we were at school, and when she could no longer take it she threw us out. On the fifth day of our vacation, my mother had a little breakdown. There were eight inches on the ground, and, rather than melting, it froze. School was cancelled, and two days later we got lucky again. Snow fell, and, for the first time in years, it accumulated. Winters were frustratingly mild in North Carolina, but the year I was in the fifth grade we got lucky. ![]() |
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